The IBJJF Houston Fall Open 2023 took place on October 21st and 22nd, 2023, and the event attracted some of the best competitors from around the US. Most of the biggest names at the event actually competed on both days, taking matches both in the gi and in no gi. Nobody was able to take home four gold medals from the event, although Carlos Henrique did come very close to doing so. He won both the super-heavyweight and absolute divisions in the gi on the first day, before coming back the next day to win the middleweight no gi division before settling for a silver medal from that absolute.
Austin Oranday also left with four medals, winning the no gi medium-heavyweight division and getting a silver in the gi middleweight division before earning bronze medals in both absolute divisions. Pedro Marinho was the man who prevented Henrique from leaving with a clean-sweep though, as he beat him in the final of the absolute division. Marinho also won gold in the heavyweight no gi division, but he didn’t compete in the gi on the first day. Emilio Hernandez was the lightest man on the podium of the no gi absolute division ,as he earned a bronze medal shortly after winning the featherweight division.
Italo Lima Costa had a good performance too, as he got silver in the gi absolute after winning the heavyweight division. He did come back the next day, but he couldn’t get any matches at super-heavyweight and took home a default gold there. Yan Paiva made an appearance in the gi ultra-heavyweight division and although he only had one match, he won it and left with a hard-earned gold medal. There wasn’t many female competitors signed up for the IBJJF Houston Fall Open 2023 unfortunately, and there were no matches in any of the adult black belt divisions.
